Liontrust is to launch a sustainable investment trust.
The trust will launch in late June and be managed by the firm’s sustainable investment team. Liontrust’s sustainable future funds currently have assets under management of more than £10bn.
The announcement came as Liontrust reported its results for the three months to March 31.
The firm saw net inflows of £1bn in the period, and assets under management and advice were £31bn, an increase of 5 per cent over the quarter, and 92 per cent since March 31, 2020.
The sale of its Asia Income investment team, as announced last October, reduced assets by £97m, while the acquisition of the Architas UK investment business, completed in October, added £5.6bn in assets.
John Ions, chief executive, said: “Our robust investment and working processes have enabled Liontrust to deliver strong long-term performance, first-class service and reliable administration. Also pivotal to our continued growth has been the power of the Liontrust brand.
“The last year has proved the strength of the business and processes and that Liontrust is well positioned to continue our growth."
The group also announced the appointment of Quintin Price to the board as a non-executive director.
He succeeds Mike Bishop who is retiring after the AGM in July. Quintin, who spent ten years as head of alpha strategies at BlackRock, is currently a senior adviser at Actis, a privately owned private equity, real estate, energy and infrastructure firm.
He is also a non-executive director of Aperture Investors, a New York-based fund manager, and F&C Investment Trust.
Last month, the firm put two fund managers within its multi-asset team on gardening leave as the company integrates the Architas business it purchased last year into its £7.4bn fund range.
Liontrust confirmed that former Architas fund managers Nathan Sweeney and Sheldon MacDonald are leaving the company.
sally.hickey@ft.com
